Nero first noticed the cloud of smoke on his way back from a job.
He had just made it back to Ponyville when he saw a large, black cloud of smoke that was spreading all across the sky. The cloud appeared to be originating from a high mountain off in the distance. Obviously, this seemed like something to be concerned about, so he started asking around town. From what they all said, the source of the smoke was, thankfully, not a raging fire.
The smoke was, in actuality, coming from a full-grown dragon.
According to the townsponies, Twilight had received a letter from the princess informing her of this. Seeing an opportunity to possibly fight an actual, fully mature, real-life dragon, Nero went looking for Twilight immediately to ask for details. He found her, as well as the other girls, at the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight had been packing her saddlebags while everyone else was crowded around her. When Nero entered, all eyes turned to him.
"Nero! Where were you? I tried to get in contact with you, but you weren't answering your phone. I checked your shop, but you weren't there." Twilight spoke up first.
"Sorry, I was out on a job. I'm guessing you wanted to tell me about the dragon?" He asked.
"Yes, we might need your help dealing with it. If we don't, it could cover all of Equestria in smoke!" She stuffed a rolled-up parchment into her bag as she spoke.
"What in the name of all things cinnamon swirl is a full-grown dragon doin' here in Equestria, anyway?" Applejack butted in, asking the question on everypony's mind.
"Sleeping." Twilight stated simply, her answer catching everyone present off guard. "According to Princess Celestia, he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all this smoke." She explained as she placed a stack of books in her bag.
"He should really see a doctor. That doesn't sound healthy at all!" Pinkie commented.
"Well, at least he's not snoring fire! What are we meant to do about it?" Rarity added.
"I'll tell you what we're meant to do; Give him the boot!" Everyone looked to Rainbow Dash, who was flying above them even indoors. To emphasize her point, she bucked a wooden statue of a horse's head. Twilight stopped it from falling over with her magic, then lifted it out of the way just as Rainbow dive bombed towards it for a second strike. This caused the rainbow speedster to crash into a bookshelf, knocking a few books off of it.
"We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else." Twilight corrected her. "Princess Celestia has given us this mission and we must not fail. If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next 100 years!" Nero heard Fluttershy gasp in horror at those words.
Wouldn't be the first time I've had to work with a time limit. Shouldn't be too hard.
"Talk about getting your beauty sleep." Rarity remarked.
Twilight finished packing her saddlebags and levitated them onto her back. "All right, everypony, I need you to gather supplies quickly. We've got a long journey ahead of us. Let's meet back here in less than an hour."
"Okay girls (and guy), you heard her! The fate of Equestria is in our hooves! Do we have what it takes!?" Rainbow pumped the group up, and they all cheered as they exited the library.
All except for Fluttershy, Nero noted.
"Um...actually..." The shy pegasus seemed hesitant, but followed the others out of the library anyway.
Wonder what that was about. Maybe she's afraid of the dragon? This is Fluttershy we're talking about.
Not dwelling on it further, Nero followed the rest out of the library. He didn't really need to pack much since he already had everything he needed with him, having just come back from a job. Still, it wouldn't hurt to double check. He stopped, however, when something occurred to him. He turned back around and poked his head into the library. "Oh, Twilight? Quick question."
"Oh? How can I help, Nero?" Twilight smiled, happy to answer any questions her friend might have.
"I'm getting paid for this, right?"
"..." Twilight's smile dropped and was replaced with a deadpan glare. "...We'll discuss payment after we persuade the dragon to sleep elsewhere."
"Cool, thanks." With that, the devil hunter left to double check if there was anything left he needed to pack.
When Nero entered Devil May Cry, he expected everything to be normal, just as he left it.
Instead, he found the shop had been turned upside down.
The desk, couch, and jukebox were hanging upside down from the ceiling, somehow defying gravity. Meanwhile, the ceiling fan and lights were all on the floor. The whole interior of the shop had somehow been flipped.
"Like what I've done with the place?" Nero spotted a familiar draconequus on the ceiling, sitting in the chair in front of the desk. He should've known Discord was behind this.
"No, actually, I can't say I'm a fan of it. I kinda liked it the way it was." He sent an annoyed glare in Discord's direction. The draconequus rolled his eyes and reluctantly snapped his fingers, returning the shop to the way it was.
"You're no fun, you know that?"
"So, is this just a friendly house call, or are you here for a reason?" Nero asked.
"Actually, I do have a reason for being here, and it's concerning your arsenal." Discord answered.
Nero raised an eyebrow. "My arsenal? What do you mean?"
"While you did well against the Ursa Minor, I can assure you that won't be the toughest foe that you face. Because of this, I decided to provide you with an addition to your arsenal, one you're very familiar with." Discord snapped his fingers, and a rack filled with metal hooves appeared next to him. While they looked different, being shaped like hooves instead of arms, Nero could tell what they were immediately.
"Devil Breakers." He grabbed one off the rack and inspected it. He recognized the one he grabbed as Overture. His right hoof dissipated, and he slipped the devil breaker on in its place. It fit perfectly, and after testing out a bit, he found that it worked exactly like the original.
"Made them myself, using Ms. Goldstein's design as a reference, of course. I simply modified it to fit your new body." Discord didn't seem like the type who knew how to build a weaponize prosthetic, so the devil hunter was about to ask how the master of chaos managed to do so, only for him to snap another hoof-shaped devil breaker into existence. "I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't build them from scratch. All I have to do is snap my fingers and viola! That's not all though. I added a new feature that should prove useful."
Taking another devil breaker, this one a Tomboy, Nero slipped it on in Overture's place. Just by the feel of the devil breaker, he could tell what the new feature was. Nero swapped back and forth between Overture and Tomboy, no longer needing to blow one up to use the other. He remembered Nico had been working on something similar, but it seems Discord beat her to it.
"This is perfect! It'll definitely come in handy." The half-demon put the devil breakers away, his normal hoof reappearing.
heh, "handy"... actually, I guess that joke doesn't work since they're hooves, not hands.
"Just remember that if you ever need any extras or replacements, you need only to ask." With that, Discord teleported away with another snap of his fingers, leaving the devil breakers behind. Nero looked over each of the devil breakers, seeing that every single one he'd used in the past was on the rack, only now they were in the shape of a hoof.
Looks like I'll have some packing to do after all.
Normally, Nero could only carry up to eight devil breakers at a time, but thanks to a new pair of saddlebags Twilight had given him, he was able to carry way more than that. He had one of each type of devil breaker packed in his bags, and even some spares.
On his way to the meeting point, it occurred to Nero that the girls might wonder where he got the devil breakers from. They had to have come from somewhere, and he couldn't tell them about Discord. Instead, he came up with a simple but effective cover story for when they inevitably ask. Currently, he and the other girls were lined up side by side in front of Twilight, listening to her give a briefing on their mission. Nero stood on the far left of the line up, and next to him was Fluttershy. After her was Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and finally Rainbow Dash.
"Alright everypony, listen up. I'm mapping out the fastest route, but we've all got to keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall." The purple unicorn paced back and forth in front of the group as she spoke.
"M-M-Mountain?" Nero heard Fluttershy whimper from beside him.
"The dragon is in that cave at the very top." Twilight continued, pointing to the mountain in question.
"Looks pretty cold up there." AJ commented.
"You bet it is! The higher you go, the chillier it gets!" Rainbow added.
"Good thing I brought my scarf." Rarity pulled out a pink scarf from her saddlebag and wrapped it around her neck, striking a pose.
"Oh yeah, that'll keep you nice and cozy." Rainbow chuckled sarcastically.
As Twilight began scanning the map for the best route, Fluttershy approached her looking rather nervous. More nervous than usual, anyway. "Um, e-excuse me, Twilight? I know you're busy, but-"
"Uh-huh... well, we could go this way." Twilight mumbled to herself, only paying half-attention to the shy pegasus.
"But if I could just have a second-"
"Uh-huh... No, we want to avoid that."
"So, um, I-I was thinking that, um... maybe I should just stay here in Ponyville."
"Uh-huh."
"Oh, good! I'll stay here and-" As Fluttershy had just begun to walk away, Twilight finally seemed to process what the pegasus had been saying and snapped out of her reverie.
"Wait! You have to come! Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy." She stopped Fluttershy in her tracks.
"I-I don't think I-"
"Oh, and don't worry about your little friends in the meadow. Spike's got it covered while you're gone." As if on cue, Spike appeared next to Fluttershy, surrounded by several little critters.
"You can count on me!" The baby dragon flashed a smile. The bunny sitting on top of him then proceeded to stomp on his head repeatedly, both hurting Spike and causing the critters to scatter. Spike fruitlessly yelled for them to come back as he chased after them, showing that he was clearly the best candidate to watch over Fluttershy's pets.
"I don't really think he's up to the task. Maybe-" Before Fluttershy could argue further, Twilight had already rolled up the map and started approaching the others. "But-... But-..." Fluttershy squeaked as she curled up into a ball.
"Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along?" Rainbow asked, clearly skeptical. "I mean, that pony's afraid of her own shadow. She's just gonna slow us down."
"It's fine if she doesn't want to go. I can handle that dragon on my own, easy." Nero gave his own input.
"Like I said before, we just need to ask him to sleep somewhere else. I'd prefer that we resolve this as peacefully as possible. Besides, Fluttershy's just a little nervous. Once we get going, I'm sure she'll be fine." The second Twilight finished her sentence, Fluttershy let out a yelp, drawing their attention. Apparently, Fluttershy had literally gotten scared by her own shadow, leaping into the bushes to hide from it.
Wow, I thought Rainbow was just exaggerating. That's some next level fear.
Twilight turned to face the rest of the group once more. "All right everypony, move out!"
At Twilight's command, everyone started running in the direction of the mountain, even forcibly carrying Fluttershy with them.
Man, I was really looking forward to fighting that dragon. Oh well, it'll still be cool to meet a real dragon. Er, not counting Spike, that is.
The group of seven ponies had just about reached the base of the mountain when a loud roar echoed from the top. Fluttershy let out a fearful gasp as she leapt behind Nero for cover.
"Woah! What was that?" Rainbow asked, staring wide-eyed at the top of the mountain.
"That is what it sounds like when a dragon snores." Twilight explained.
"It's- It's so... high." Fluttershy whimpered as she stared dreadfully at the mountain itself from behind the devil hunter.
"Well, it is a mountain. I'm gonna fly up there and check it out!" Rainbow was about to take off, only for Applejack to bite down on her tail and pull her back. At this point, Nero was starting to wonder if biting Rainbow's tail was a hobby for the farm pony.
"Hold on now. I think we should all go up together. Safety in numbers an' all." The others seemed to agree with Applejack, giving their own nods of approval.
"...Oh, alright." Rainbow crossed her hooves grumpily. The group started to follow the path up the mountain, beginning their long trek. About a minute had passed before Rarity decided to strike up a conversation.
"Pardon me, Nero, but what exactly are you carrying in those saddlebags? I don't recall seeing you carry much whenever you go out on a job." To answer her question, Nero pulled a devil breaker from the bag, a Punch Line to be specific.
"These are what I call devil breakers. They're prosthetic arms I use to fight demons." His right hoof disappeared, and he slipped Punch Line on in its place.
"Oooooooh! What's it do!? What's it do!?" Pinkie bounced around, joining the conversation.
"Well, I've got a bunch, and they each have different functions. This one is called Punch Line, and as for what it does..." Nero aimed his right hoof into the air and fired Punch Line. The metal hoof rocketed into the sky, zipping around at high speed before returning to Nero's hoof. Everyone present stared at the devil breaker in shock.
"Whoa... that's so cool!" Rainbow said, hovering above them.
"Where did you get those from?" Twilight eyed the devil breaker curiously.
"I put in a request to Celestia to have them built. I have something similar back home, only they're shaped like human arms rather than pony hooves, so I was able to give them the plans to build them." Nero lied, using the cover story he had come up with earlier.
"So these devil breakers are basically weaponized prosthetics? Fascinating!" The purple unicorn couldn't help but stare at the marvel of technology in wonder. "But wait... why a prosthetic?"
"What do you mean?"
"Prosthetics are used to replace missing limbs, right? I saw that your hoof disappears when you put on a devil breaker, but why not just make it a glove or something?"
"Ah, that's... a bit of a long story. I didn't have a right arm when the devil breaker was first created."
"WHAT!?!" All the girls present shouted in unison. Twilight was the first to ask for clarification. "B-But, that doesn't make any sense! If you didn't have a hoof before, how come you have a hoof now!?"
"It grew back."
The girls all stared at him in silent shock.
"...Oh come on, is it really that surprising? Rarity grew her tail back, how is my growing an arm back any different?" The half-demon pointed to Rarity. "Listen, it's not a big deal, so let's keep moving. We're on a time limit, remember?"
While it was obvious the girls wanted to ask more questions, they knew Nero was right. They didn't have time to stand around. They needed to reach the dragon as soon as possible. Reluctantly, they all turned around and continued their journey.
Phew, close one. I'd rather not have to explain the reason why my arm was missing in the first place. That would be an awkward conversation.
The group had continued walking along the path for a bit longer. According to the map, the path was supposed to continue on for a while, but Twilight said their was a shortcut they could take to save them some time. When Nero saw the shortcut though, he became confused.
The "shortcut" was a steep slope that led up to a cliffside.
Nero was about to comment on how walking up something that steep would be physically impossible, only for the girls to start trotting on the incline like it was nothing. It took him a second to remember that they had hooves and could walk up mountains like this easily. Realizing this, he followed them up the slope.
This feels pretty weird, not gonna lie. It almost feels like I'm walking up a wall and giving gravity the middle finger.
"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon's scales are the jewels they use to build their nests. Ooh! If I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few." Rarity gushed at the thought. Despite the long hike, everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Well, all except Rainbow Dash, who seemed grumpy that she had to stick with the group instead of flying ahead. She hovered above the rest with her hooves crossed, clearly bored.
"Welcome to my cave, Rarity! Care for a diamond? RAARRR!!" Pinkie did her best dragon impression, which got both Rarity and Applejack to giggle.
"Girls! This is no laughing matter!" Twilight broke up their laughter just as they reached the top of the slope, stepping onto the cliff.
"Oh, lighten up, Twilight. They're just having some fun. I crack jokes about life-threatening events all the time." Nero defended them.
"We can't afford any distractions. The fate of Equestria depends on us. Fluttershy, you're the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?" Twilight waited for a response, only to get silence as an answer. Everyone looked around in confusion, not seeing Fluttershy among the group. Rainbow spotted her further back down the mountain, hiding in some bushes.
"Hey, what are you waiting for? An invitation?" The rainbow speedster called out to her.
"Ooh! I think I have one in my bag!" Pinkie pulled out said invitation from her saddlebags, triggering an explosion of confetti. To Nero's chagrin, he ended up covered in the bits of confetti alongside Rainbow and Rarity.
"I-It's so... so... steep." Fluttershy cowered behind the bush.
"Well, it is a cliff. You could just, oh I don't know, fly up here!" Rainbow Dash suggested, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it! Flap those wings!" Pinkie cheered supportively.
"Uh... okay..." Fluttershy did as told and began flapping her wings. She lifted herself off the ground and managed to reach the same elevation as the rest of the group. Unfortunately, that was when the dragon snored once again. The low, booming growl echoed through the air.
The second Fluttershy heard it, it took only a second for the fear to spread across her face. She was so scared that her wings locked up and she began to plummet back to the ground. Thankfully, she landed safely in a bush, remaining unharmed. Fluttershy climbed out of the bush and attempted to open her wings again, but it didn't seem like they were budging.
"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" Twilight groaned. Hearing this, Applejack snagged the map from Twilight's bag. "What are you doing?"
"I'll need this if I'm gonna take her 'round the mountain another way." The farm pony explained as she searched the map for an alternate route.
"Around the mountain? That's gonna take them forever!" Rainbow also let out an annoyed groan. Applejack slid back down the slope to join Fluttershy. Once she reached the bottom, she looked back up at Twilight.
"Don't worry, Twi. We'll be there lickety-split." Applejack reassured her as she led Fluttershy down a different path.
"Guess we're waiting on them, then." Nero sighed. The group made themselves comfortable while they waited for Fluttershy and Applejack to catch up. In the meantime, Pinkie had convinced Rarity to play tic-tac-toe with her. Nero spectated their game for what little entertainment it provided.
Some time passed, and the pink pony had the fashionista beat 9-0. Rarity still had yet to accept defeat as they began another round. Nero let out a yawn as the spectating started to grow boring.
Man, if those two don't hurry up, I might just die of boredom. I kinda wish something exciting would happen, like-
Nero's thought was cut off when he heard a familiar sound. Walls of red veins trapped the group of five ponies on the cliffside, and pools of blood sprouted from the ground.
Ask and ye shall receive.
The girls all gasped at the sight, and Nero brought Red Queen out, ready for action. "Nero, it's-!"
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'll take care of them. You girls just stay back." He cut Twilight off as he approached the pools of blood. Three Hell Prides carrying scythes climbed out of the pools and limbered towards him as music began to fill his ears.
"Now that I think about it, this is a good opportunity to test out the new devil breakers." Nero muttered to himself. He pulled out an Overture from his bag and slipped it on before addressing the demons. "Hey, you guys don't mind helping me test out this new toy, right?" The demons all growled at him in response.
With a smirk, Nero extended Overture into its weaponized form, the metal hoof emitting sparks of electricity. The closest Hell Pride swung its scythe at him, but it was too slow. Nero triggered Overture, and a giant hand made of pure electricity shot out of it, an attack he called Battery. The shock knocked all three demons back, dealing a significant amount of damage to each. Nero lunged at the closest demon with a Hard Way, slamming his sword down and killing it.
Before the other two could get up, Nero launched one of them into the air with a High Roller, then performing an aerial combo to end its life. Before falling back to the ground, Nero Snatched the third Hell Pride up with a spectral arm. Grabbing it with the spectral arm once again, he power bombed the demon back down to the ground, the impact being more than enough to kill it.
Nero turned to find six more pools of blood appearing on the ground, demons crawling out of them. The first three were Scarecrows, and the two after them were Hell Lusts. What caught his eye was the sixth and final one, a Hell Wrath. The devil hunter whipped out Blue Rose and focused his fire on the Hell Wrath's explosive sack. Thanks to their speed, the Hell Lusts had leapt out of the blast range before the Hell Wrath exploded. The Scarecrows, however, were not so lucky, and got caught in the blast, dying instantly.
The first Hell Lust dashed towards Nero with its scythe, but the half-demon avoided the attack with a Table Hopper, then swung his sword four times, performing Red Queen Combo A. While the first Hell Lust was stunned, the second one dashed forward, only for its attack to also be avoided with another Table Hopper. Nero swapped Overture out for Rawhide, then attacked the second Hell Lust with the devil breaker's basic combo, Side Winder, before slamming it into the ground with the Devil Bringer to finish it off.
He swung Red Queen twice at the first Hell Lust, only for it to sidestep his attacks. It flipped backwards and was about to lunge at him again, only for Nero to bring it towards him with a Wire Snatch. Thanks to having Rawhide equipped, the Wire Snatch dealt extra damage to the demon. For his final blow, Nero swapped back to Overture and blasted the Hell Lust with a Battery attack, ending its existence.
The music faded away as the walls of veins did the same. Nero admired the devil breaker with satisfaction. It worked like a charm, and swapping between devil breakers felt seamless.
"That was AWESOME!!! You've gotta show us what else that hoof can do!" With the dust having settled, Rainbow Dash flew over to Nero, getting an up-close look at the devil breaker.
"Heh, maybe some other time. Don't wanna spoil the surprise." Nero replied, and the rainbow speedster pouted. Ignoring her pout, Nero went back to where he was sitting to continue watching Pinkie and Rarity's ongoing battle of tic-tac-toe.
Back to this, I guess. Who knows, maybe it'll start getting interesting again.
Spoiler alert: It did not get interesting again.
"WOOHOO! I win again!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Ugh, that's 35 games in a row. Best of 71?" Rarity challenged.
Nero was just about at his limit. If this went on any longer, he'd just charge up the mountain and kick that dragon out of the cave himself. Twilight and Rainbow seemed to be growing impatient as well. Twilight was pacing back and forth, while Rainbow did the same, only by flying instead of trotting.
Their attention was drawn to the sound of hoof steps approaching and someone grunting in effort. They all turned to see Applejack approaching from the alternate route, carrying Fluttershy by the tail. The shy pegasus herself seemed to be frozen stiff from fear.
"We...made...it..." Applejack managed to wheeze out before flopping on the ground, panting heavily.
"Told you it was gonna take them forever." Rainbow muttered to Twilight.
After letting Applejack catch her breath, the group finally continued forward up the path. They continued on for a bit longer before running into a small gap in the path. Both Nero and Rainbow Dash leapt over it first, not even a second of hesitation from either of them. Everyone else promptly followed their lead, hopping over the gap with little effort.
Everyone except for Fluttershy, that is.
"Your turn, Fluttershy." Twilight called out to her.
"But it's so... wide." Fluttershy took a few steps back from the gap.
Oh, come on, it's only like 2 feet! Not even!
"Come on Fluttershy, we should be much farther along by now!" Twilight insisted.
"You could just leap on over." AJ added. Fluttershy took a glance at the gap, looking down at the far drop below.
"...I-" Fluttershy was cut off by another roar from the dragon's snoring. "...I don't know."
"There's nothing to be afraid of! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump!" Pinkie Pie cut in, then proceeded to leap back across the gap. "See?"
It was at that moment that Nero heard music beginning to play.
Oh God, not again-
"It's not very far, just move your little rump~! You can make it if you try with a hop, skip, and a jump~!" Pinkie began to sing to the music as she leapt back and forth over the gap, and Nero resisted the urge to rip his ears off.
"We don't have time for this." Twilight said, though made no effort to stop it.
"A hop, skip, and a jump~! Just move your little rump~! A hop, skip, and a jump! A hop, skip, and a jump! A hop, skip, and a jump! A hop, skip, and a jump! A hop, skip, and a JUMP!" Pinkie mercifully finished the song by landing on the side opposite of Fluttershy. The shy pegasus took another nervous look at the gap before readying herself to mimic what Pinkie did. "Okay... here I go."
"A hop..." She hopped.
"A skip..." She skipped.
"Just don't look down!" Twilight encouraged her, though it would prove to have backfired in a second.
Fluttershy heard Twilight's words just as she reached the jump portion of the mantra. Fluttershy looked down mid-leap, and terror entered her eyes in less than a second. She let out a quiet yelp as she fell forward...
Her front hooves landed on the other side safely, while her hind legs remained on the side they had come from. The gap was so small, that it was almost impossible to fall through without trying. Like Nero said, the gap wasn't even 2 feet, and could have been stepped over if you stretched your hooves out far enough.
Still, Fluttershy found herself wedged between the gap. Rainbow groaned as she flew behind Fluttershy and gave her a little push, putting her safely on the other side.
"I guess I forgot to jump." Fluttershy said sheepishly, flashing an embarrassed smile.
"Let's keep it down. According to my map, we're entering an avalanche zone. The smallest peep could cause a huge rockslide." Twilight whispered.
They were well past the gap now, and had continued further on up the mountain. Just as Twilight said, Nero could tell that the whole area was very unstable. He made sure to keep his footsteps light in order to avoid making any noise.
"An ava-... ava-!"
"SHH!" Fluttershy's nervous stammering was cut off when Twilight shushed her. The group resumed their pace, though with much more caution. Everyone treaded lightly, not daring to make a peep. The only sound that could be heard was the light clopping of hooves.
Everything was completely silent.
...
...
...
...If demons decided to ambush us now, we'd all be screwed.
Nero caught Rainbow Dash in the corner of his eye, her wing having brushed past the branch of a nearby tree. Though her wing had barely touched it, it had been enough to knock a single leaf from the branch. Normally, this wouldn't have concerned Nero. There was, however, one problem.
The leaf was about to fall on Fluttershy.
Considering how on edge she had been this entire time, even the lightest touch from that leaf would most likely freak her out.
CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!!!
Nero took action almost immediately, dashing forward with speed only a demon would be capable of. He managed to grab the leaf with his teeth just an inch away from landing on Fluttershy. The pegasus herself didn't seem to have noticed, continuing on as if nothing happened.
"Oh, thank God." Nero gave a relieved sigh, only realizing his mistake a second too late as the girls all turned to him with wide eyes. Everyone remained frozen in place, waiting to see if Nero's voice had been loud enough to trigger an avalanche.
A second passed.
Then another.
Then another.
...
...
...
Nothing but dead silence.
Twilight sent a hard glare his way, making a zipper motion over her mouth with her hoof as if to say 'Keep your mouth zipped shut.'
She didn't have to tell the devil hunter twice.
The group carried on, not making a single peep. Eventually, they made it through the avalanche zone with no further incidents. Once they made it, Twilight gave the all clear, and everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"What was that about!? You almost triggered an avalanche!" Rainbow Dash flew up in Nero's face.
"Look, it was an accident, ok? A leaf was about to fall on Fluttershy, and I was worried it would freak her out, so I stopped it. Can you blame me for feeling a little relieved?" The half-demon explained himself.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I didn't notice it." Fluttershy apologized from the side.
"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. Look, let's just be glad we got through that safely, ok?"
"Nero's right. We don't have time to stand around and argue about it." Twilight cut in. "According to the map, we should be at the final stretch. We'll have time for chit-chat after we've convinced the dragon to leave."
Everyone gave a round of determined nods in agreement. They all followed Twilight as she pressed on, ready to finish their quest.
Looks like it's finally time to meet my first dragon... well, not counting Spike, anyway.
"We're here." Twilight stated as she gazed upon the massive opening to the dragon's cave. Smoke poured out of the entrance, and the low rumble of the Dragon's breathing could be heard even from outside the cave. If Nero had to describe the size of the entrance, he would say it was about as large as the Ursa Minor had been, if not larger.
"Rainbow Dash, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there. Nero, you'll keep the dragon at bay in case he decides to attack. Applejack, you're ready with the apples to provide assistance to Nero if he needs it." Twilight listed off everyone's tasks, and they all prepared to carry out their part of the plan.
"Hopefully, it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up. Between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?" Everyone, save Fluttershy, gave their own affirmation in response. "Okay, then. We're going in!"
Twilight did as she said she would and marched straight into the dragon's cave. She didn't seem to notice that Fluttershy hadn't followed her. Instead, the shy pegasus had her head buried in the dirt in a feeble attempt to hide. A few seconds later, Twilight came back out, a deadpan expression on her face.
"Come on!" She bit down on Fluttershy's wings and gave them a tug, pulling her out of the dirt. "We have to do this!" She gave Fluttershy a push, but the shy pegasus did not budge. "Now!"
As Twilight continued to push, Rainbow Dash joined in to help, who was followed by Rarity. After her, AJ joined in, and Nero figured he might as well pitch in, too. He wished he had waited a second longer before helping when Pinkie smacked into him from behind, also aiding in the group push. "Every second longer that dragon sleeps is another acre of Equestria that is covered in smoke!" Twilight grunted with effort between her words. Surprisingly, even with Nero's demonic strength, Fluttershy managed to keep herself dug firmly into the dirt.
"I...I... I can't go in the cave." Fluttershy finally answered. Everyone groaned as they stopped trying to push her.
"Oh great. She's scared of caves now, too." Rainbow complained.
"I'm not scared of caves. I'm scared of dr..."
"What's that, sugar cube?" Applejack asked, unable to make out what she said.
"I'm scared of drag..."
"What?" Twilight also asked, still not able to hear her.
"I'm scared of dragons!" Fluttershy admitted.
Wow, what a twist. Never saw that coming. Who could have possibly guessed?
The dragon snored once more, causing a huge puff of smoke to emerge from the cave. It clouded around the group of ponies, causing them all to start coughing. After the smoke had cleared, Nero found Fluttershy huddling behind him once again.
"But Fluttershy, you have such a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals!" Twilight said, somehow surprised by this new revelation.
"Yes, because they're not dragons." Fluttershy emphasized, still hiding behind the devil hunter.
"Oh, come on! We've seen you walk right up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing!" The rainbow pegasus reminded her.
"Yes, because he wasn't a dragon." She repeated.
"Spike is a dragon, and you're not scared of him." Pinkie added.
"Yes, because he's not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, shark-scale-having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could-eat-a-pony-in-one-bite, totally all-grown-up dragon." The dragon snored once more after Fluttershy's rant, which provoked her to whimper in fear.
"But if you're so afraid of dragons, why didn't you say something before we came all the way up here!?" Twilight questioned.
"Because I was afraid to."
Oh, for Christ's sake, is there anything she's not afraid of!?
"All of us are scared of that dragon-"
"I'm not." Both Nero and Rainbow Dash objected simultaneously, cutting Applejack off.
"... Almost all of us are scared of that dragon, but we've got a job t' do. So get in there with Twilight an' show 'er what yer made of." After AJ finished, all eyes were on Fluttershy, waiting for her answer.
"I...I..."
Everyone leaned in.
"...I just...can't." Fluttershy hung her head low, completely downtrodden. She moved behind a large rock that was portruding out of the ground to hide herself. Whether it was to hide from the dragon or her shame, Nero wasn't sure.
Poor Fluttershy. I actually feel kinda bad for her now.
Everyone else present felt the same way as Nero, but they couldn't dwell on it for too long. They still had a job to do, and their target was right in front of them. All that was left was to get the dragon out of the cave. Considering Fluttershy was no longer taking part, Twilight had to enter the cave alone.
"I'm going in. He... probably just doesn't realize what he's doing... right?" Twilight, who was now a few feet into the cave, looked back at her friends for encouragement. All of them, save for Nero, were hiding just around the corner of the cave's entrance.
"O-Oh, yeah, of course." Ranbow scratched the back of her head.
"S-Sure, if you say so." Applejack gave a forced smile.
"O-Of course, heh heh..." Rarity chuckled nervously.
"Easy-peasy!" Pinkie seemed to be the most genuine of them.
"Try not to die." Nero deadpanned.
While Twilight was clearly skeptical of their encouragement, she trudged forward through the cave anyway. A couple minutes passed as they waited for Twilight before a loud roar could be heard from within the cave. Twilight came trotting out, coughing and hacking through a cloud of smoke.
"No dice, huh?" Nero said, unsurprised by the result.
"So much for persuading him." Rainbow coughed as some of the smoke got in her lungs.
"So, anyone else got any ideas, or can I finally do my thing?" Nero looked between each of the girls, waiting for an answer.
"Obviously, this situation just calls for a little... pony charm." Rarity stepped up and strutted into the cave, carrying the confidence of a lady. Judging by the look on her face, she had no doubt she would succeed.
She came sprinting out of the cave about a minute later.
"So much for that 'pony charm'." Nero chuckled as Rarity leaned on a rock, pouting.
"I was this close to getting that diamond!" The fashionista complained.
"You mean, 'Getting rid of that dragon'?" Twilight sent a look Rarity's way.
"Oh, yeah, sure." She corrected herself. Their attention was drawn away by the sound of a party noise maker. Nero turned to see-
What in the fresh hell...?
Pinkie Pie was wearing the weirdest getup Nero had ever seen in his entire life. Her torso was hidden inside a wrapped present, bow and all, while she wore swimming flippers on each of her hooves. A few balloons floated behind her, their strings tied to her tail. She wore balloon animals on her head and a pair of cartoonishly large fashionable glasses over her eyes. The final addition was the party noise maker she held in her mouth.
...I don't even wanna know where she got that outfit.
"Darling, you look ridiculous!" Rarity looked appalled by the insult to fashion that Pinkie was wearing.
"Exactly! Sharing a laugh is a surefire way to get someone on your side!" The pink pony waddled into the cave with a bright smile on her face. From outside, they heard Pinkie greet the dragon with a "Hi!". This was immediately followed by the sound of crashing and balloons popping. Pinkie limped out not two seconds later, her balloons having been popped and deflated, while her present-torso thing had been ruffled and beat up. "Apparently he doesn't like laughing... or sharing."
At this point, Rainbow Dash had reached her limit and was ready to take matters into her own hooves. "All right, that's it! We've tried persuasion, charm, and... whatever it is Pinkie Pie does. It's time to stop wasting time! I'm going in! C'mon, Nero, let's kick this dragon's butt!" The rainbow pegasus zoomed into the cave gesturing for the devil hunter to follow.
"I thought you'd never ask." Nero followed the rainbow speedster into the cave, ignoring Twilight's protests. Thanks to his demonic speed, Nero was able to keep up with RD, and they quickly found themselves in front of the dragon. The dragon itself was huge. It looked to be twice as big as something like Goliath or the Ursa Minor, if not bigger. The half-demon could tell that the dragon was nowhere near as powerful as a demon, but it could probably put up a bit of a fight.
Nero remembered Discord's no killing rule and made a mental note to hold back, sticking to non-lethal attacks. As the dragon finally took notice of them, Rainbow flew up to its face, rearing her hind legs. Nero leapt up next to her, summoning his spectral wings for the extra boost.
"GET OUT!!!" They both shouted in unison before delivering a hard buck to the dragon's snout. Nero's wings disappeared as he landed back on the ground, while Rainbow continued to fly in place. The dragon recoiled from the strike, clutching its snout in pain before sending a vicious glare at them, snarling. Though Nero remained unphased, Rainbow seemed to realize she bit off more than she could chew. "Heh, uh, sorry?" She chuckled nervously.
The dragon let out a mighty roar, its breath creating a large gust of wind. Nero managed to keep his hooves planted firmly in the ground as the tail of his coat blew around wildly. Rainbow, unfortunately, was unable to do so, and the roar sent her flying out of the cave, crashing into the other girls.
"Shit, Rainbow!" Nero called out to her. He turned back to the dragon, a scowl present on his face. "Hey jackass! You wanna pick on someone, why don't you try me on for size?" In response, the dragon let out another roar, smoke pouring out of its mouth. Nero coughed as he wafted it away. "Jeez, and I thought Nico was bad. Your breath reeks! Didn't your mother ever teach you smoking's bad for you?"
This time, the dragon inhaled, taking in a large gulp of air before letting out a roar that was even more powerful than the previous two. This one had been strong enough to send Nero flying out of the cave as well, sending him crashing into the rock that Fluttershy had been hiding behind, though the impact hadn't been enough to hurt him. The rock crumbled as Nero stood back up, and the dragon finally emerged from its cave, angered by the annoying intruders. "Alright smokey, you asked for it! You want a fight? I'll give you a fi-!"
"How dare you..." A familiar voice spoke up from behind him.
...Or not.
Nero turned his head to see that Fluttershy had come out of hiding and was now glaring up at the dragon. "HOW DARE YOU!?" Fluttershy yelled. Nero wasn't sure if he heard that right. Did the Fluttershy actually just yell at someone?
The half demon's eyes widened as he watched Fluttershy fly up to the dragon and land on its snout, glaring daggers into its eyes. Everyone present watched in complete shock as Fluttershy began to chastise the dragon. Even the dragon himself looked surprised. "Listen here, mister! Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth and sharp scales and snore smoke and breathe fire, but you do not, I repeat, you do NOT! HURT! MY! FRIENDS! You got that?"
...Holy shit.
Everything was silent for a few seconds before the dragon started whimpering. "...But that rainbow one and the one with the sword kicked me, and then the sword one started making fun of me and calling me names." The dragon pointed to Rainbow Dash and Nero respectively.
"You deserved it if you ask me-"
"NERO!" The descendant of Sparda recoiled and clamped his mouth shut under the harsh gaze of Fluttershy. After she finished scowling at him, Fluttershy turned back to the dragon. "And I am very sorry about that, but you're bigger than they are, and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures."
"...But I-"
"Don't you 'but I' me, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?" Fluttershy asked, and the dragon remained silent. "I said, what do you have to say for yourself?" She repeated, this time more firmly.
The dragon winced before crying his eyes out, giant tears streaming down his face and splashing onto the ground. Some of them got on Nero, soaking him.
Well, isn't that just wonderful.
"There, there. No need to cry." Fluttershy stroked the dragon's snout, comforting it. "You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. you just need to find a new place to sleep, that's all." As Fluttershy flew back down to the ground, the rest of the group cheered for her.
"You did it! I knew you could do it!" Twilight congratulated her. Nero couldn't help but smile as the other girls continued to praise the shy pegasus. It seemed things were wrapping up with another happy ending.
...At least it did, until he felt a familiar presence.
He levitated Red Queen off his back and prepared a charge shot, his hoof starting to glow blue. The others noticed this and gave him worried looks. "Nero? What is it?" Twilight asked.
"Demons." He simply replied, putting everyone on edge.
"What!? Where!?"
"Not sure yet. I can feel their presence nearby, but I have no idea where it's coming from." His eyes scanned around the area, trying to pinpoint the demon's location. His search was stopped when he heard the dragon roar in pain from behind him. He turned and spotted a Green Empusa injecting its stinger into the dragon's side. The Green Empusa itself was different than usual, its sack carrying a glowing red liquid instead of the usual green kind.
He didn't need to think hard to realize it was demon blood.
He whipped out Blue Rose and fired a charge shot into the demon, obliterating it. Unfortunately, he was too late, and the demon blood began to take its effect on the dragon. A red aura began to surround it, and its eyes became more primal than they were before, his irises turning black and his pupils turning red. The dragon's claws and teeth began to grow sharper and it let out a roar far more demonic than it had previously.
"Shit! Everyone get back!" He yelled to the others, and they did just that. Once he was sure they were at a safe distance, he turned back to the dragon to find it glaring down at him, it's claw reaching straight for him.
OH SHIT-
Before Nero could react, the dragon grabbed him and lifted him up in his clutches. It spread its wings and took off into the air, flying to God knows where. Nero struggled in the dragons grip before managing to get Red Queen free.
"HEY SMOKEY! HANDS OFF!" He yelled at the dragon before stabbing his sword into its claw. He gave the sword a few revs and pain shot up the dragon's arm, forcing it to release the devil hunter. Nero fell out of the sky, the wind blowing at his hair. He crashed into the ground and landed on his hooves, the impact creating a small crater beneath him.
After taking in his surroundings, he found himself in a clearing in the middle of a forest. Judging by the mountain's location and how far the dragon flew, Nero assumed he was in White Tail Woods. The clearing he was in was just big enough for a fight with a dragon. The devil hunter looked back up to the sky and saw the dragon circling around. It landed in the clearing on all fours with a thud, glaring down at Nero with bloodlust in its eyes.
"Looks like I'll be getting my dragon fight after all. Whaddya say, big guy? Ready to throw down?" Nero hopped in place a few times to warm himself up. The dragon roared menacingly in response. "Alright then, gimme your best shot!"
The dragon inhaled before belching out a large spurt of fire. Nero just barely rolled out of the way and began firing shots from Blue Rose at the scaly beast. While the bullets were doing damage, it was very little. Once the dragon finished spouting flames, Nero latched onto the dragon with a spectral arm, pulling himself closer. Once in range, he shocked the dragon with a Battery attack from Overture before hacking away at it with Red Queen, revving the sword with each strike to trigger Ex Act. Meanwhile, his hoof glowed as he readied a charge shot.
Enraged, the dragon took a swing at Nero, and the devil hunter leapt out of the way with an Air Hike, shooting the dragon a couple more times while mid-air before slamming his sword down on it with a Split. He managed to get two more swings in before having to dodge another swing from the dragon's claws. The dragon continued to unleash a barrage of swings, forcing Nero to put some distance between them. Another stream of flames erupted from the dragon's mouth, and Nero just barely flipped out of the way with a Table Hopper.
He swapped from Overture to Punch Line, then sent the devil breaker rocketing straight into the dragon. As the metal hoof continued to punch the dragon over and over, the charge shot reached its maximum charge. He pulled Blue Rose's trigger and released the shot onto the dragon, making it howl in pain. Punch Line returned to him, and he closed the distance between himself and the dragon once again with a Streak, then attacked the dragon with Red Queen's Combo C. The dragon slammed its claw down on the devil hunter, but he managed to roll out of the way just in time.
Nero swapped out Punch Line for Tomboy, then hooked it up to Red Queen, charging up the sword. He delivered six powerful, flame-fueled swings to the dragon, burning and cutting through its scales before slamming down his sword for a seventh final strike, finishing Red Queen Combo EX.
Having had enough, the dragon flapped its wings, creating a gust of wind that knocked Nero back. The dragon flew into the air and began circling the clearing in the forest. The dragon started to pick up speed, flying around faster and faster.
He's getting ready for something big. Here it comes!
The dragon stopped circling the clearing and dive bombed straight towards Nero, intent on crushing him. Just as the dragon reached Nero, however, it did not get the chance.
Having waited for just the right time, Nero grabbed the dragon by the snout with a spectral arm just as it reached him, stopping it in its tracks. It clearly took some effort to do so on the half-demon's part, his hooves skidding across the ground as he tried to keep the dragon in his grasp. Still, he managed to hold his ground, and wrapped a second spectral arm around the dragon's neck. He pushed himself into a backflip, bringing the dragon with him, and suplexed it into the ground.
With the dragon now sprawled out on the ground, completely stunned, Nero saw an opportunity. "POWER! MY POWER!!!" His voice echoed as he activated his Devil Trigger, his body changing just like it had during his fight with the Ursa Minor. He assaulted the dragon with several attacks from Red Queen, his spectral wings clawing at the dragon at the same time.
"Place your bets..." Nero readied Red Queen behind him as a blue aura surrounded the sword. Once his attack was fully charged, he dragged his sword across the ground as he spun around before unleashing Maximum Bet, a large, blue, glowing, X-shaped projectile that sliced into the dragon. "ALL IN!!!"
For his final attack, Nero switched from Tomboy to his Buster Arm devil breaker, then grabbed the dragon by the tail. He lifted the scaly beast over his shoulder, then slammed it down into the dirt. He didn't stop there, though, and proceeded to slam the dragon again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
After the fifth slam, Nero spun the dragon around and around, still clutching onto the tail. Having built up enough momentum, he threw the dragon straight up into the air. After reaching the height of the launch, it came falling back down to the ground. Just before it could crash into the dirt, Nero summoned a spectral arm much larger than the others, then punched the dragon straight in the face, sending soaring before it smashed into the ground, causing a small tremor.
The effects of the demon blood began to wear off, and so did Nero's Devil Trigger. He approached the dragon as it started to get back up, returning to its senses.
"W-What... happened?" The dragon moaned, clutching its head in pain.
"A demon injected you with some demonic blood, and it took over your body. I had to kick the crap out of you to get rid of it, so that's probably why you have a headache now. No hard feelings?"
The dragon groaned, still holding its head. "I'd rather have a headache than be possessed. Thank you."
"Oh, and, uh, sorry for kicking you... and for calling you a jackass... and for saying your breath stinks... and for calling you 'smokey'." Nero apologized, and the dragon gave a nod of acknowledgement. The two sat in an awkward silence fell over them for a few seconds before Nero decided to speak up again.
"I'm pretty sure the others are on their way now, but they're probably gonna be a while... you know any good stories to pass the time?"
Turned out that dragon was quite the conversationalist once you get to know him. Both the dragon and the devil hunter had been getting along for quite a while. They were pretty deep in conversation by the time the girls had arrived. After reassuring them that both parties were unharmed (for the most part), they said their goodbyes as the dragon took off, flying away to find a better place to take his nap.
After returning to Ponyville, Nero couldn't get that Green Empusa carrying demon blood off of his mind. He figured what that demon did to the dragon was the same thing that happened to the Ursa Minor. Whether they were doing it under a leader's orders or just doing it to spread havoc, Nero wasn't sure. If someone was in control of this, then who?
Something else he noticed from both fights was that it didn't take much to defeat something possessed by demon blood. They were definitely tougher than the average lesser demon, but they didn't take as much punishment as larger demons like Goliath or Gilgamesh. He imagined this would differ depending on what kind of creature gets possessed. If something much stronger than either the dragon or the Ursa Minor were to be injected with demon blood, it would probably be much harder to deal with than the first two. Thinking about the devastation things like that could cause was pretty concerning.
He shook the thoughts out of his head. He'd burn those bridges when he got to them. Right now, he switched his focus to the present. The group, save for Twilight, stood outside of the Golden Oaks Library. Rainbow Dash was bouncing a ball covered in a star pattern on top of her head. Apparently, she was trying to break Equestria's ball-bouncing record.
"342, 343, 344, 345..." Rainbow Dash continued to count each bounce.
"Twilight! Ya gotta come see this!" Applejack called the purple unicorn's name. Hearing it, Twilight stepped out onto the library's balcony to see what the commotion was about. "She's just five away from a new pony record!"
"...347, 348-"
"RRAARRR!!!"
"DRAGON!" Rainbow's counting was cut off by a loud roar, and she quickly played dead on the floor. Everyone laughed at her reaction, even Nero got a chuckle out of it. "W-Why are you laughing!? That awful dragon is back!"
Rainbow's fearful expression faded once she saw that it was Pinkie who had been responsible for the roaring, the pink pony continuing to do so again. Instead, her fear was replaced with aggravation. "Pinkie Pie, you scared me!"
"Oh, did she now?" Nero caught the rainbow pegasus' slip-up.
"I-I mean, uh... you broke my concentration." She corrected herself.
"It's okay, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy flew down beside her, a smug grin on her face. "Not everypony can be as brave as me."
A stray leaf flew down from the library's branches, and Rainbow blew it away with a breath. The breeze carried the leaf until it landed on Fluttershy's back, causing the shy pony to yelp and play dead just as Rainbow had done a few seconds ago. Just like before, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
Well, even if more demons show up, I get the feeling things will work out fine.